Shoe lasting and skiving machine and method

ABSTRACT

A shoe-lasting machine having a device for skiving the margin of a partially lasted shoe upper supported by wipers in an intermediate supporting and clamping position. The wipers are included in heads which transfer the shoe between a pulling unit and a skiving device.

United States Patent Anton Muhlbach Frankfurt am Main; Rudi Fichtner, Ober Horgern, both of,

[72] Inventors Germany [21] Appl. No. 828,237 [22] Filed May 27,1969 [45] Patented July 13, 1971 [73] Assignee USM Corporation Flemington, NJ. [32] Priority May 31,1968 [33] Austria [31 1 A 5261 [54] SHQE LASTING AND SKIVING MACHINE AND METHOD 9 Claims, 11 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 12/145, 12/7.l, 12/88 [51] Int. Cl A43d 7/00, A43d 29/00 [50] Field of Search Primary ExaminerPatrick D. Lawson Att0meysW. Bigelow Hall, Richard A. Wise and Vincent A.

White ABSTRACT: A shoe-lasting machine having a device for skiving the margin of a partially lasted shoe upper supported by wipers in an intermediate supporting and clamping position. The wipers are included in heads which transfer the shoe between a pulling unit and a skiving device.

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SHEET 5 OF 7 PATENTED JUL 1 3 m SHEET 7 [1F 7 SHOE LASTING AND SKIVING MACHINE AND METHOD BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to a machine for skiving the margin of shoe uppers as a part of a lasting operation.

2. Description of the Prior Art Shoe uppers at the forepart generally must be reduced in thickness by a skiving or similar operation so that when folded over the edge of the shoe bottom a sharp creaseless line is produced. For this reason it is common to trim lining and box toe material by hand or by machine after the shoe upper is partially lasted at least heightwise to the bottom of the last.

US. Pat. No. 3,309,721 discloses one shoe-lasting machine in which the upper is dragged over a knife edge by wipers as they inwipe over the shoe bottom to skive excess material from the upper margin. The knife edge is formed on the leading edge of a V-shaped plate which acts to spread the material as it is wiped. The knife edge, however, must be perfectly aligned with the wipers to produce an evenly skived thickness on the upper. Such .a machine is adapted to operate only on one shoe at a time.

US. Pat. No. 2,055,483 shows an earlier machine in which an upper is partially lasted and a rotary trimming knife is guided around the shoe forepart to skive the upper margin. This operation relies on the upper being outspread evenly over the wipers and a separate spreading device is provided for this purpose.

While these machines generally are satisfactory, there is a trend in the art of shoemaking toward automation where a series of shoes are lasted with little or no operator attention. One trend is toward a modular concept with a series of operations being performed automatically by specialized limited-purpose devices at separated locations. When this is done it is essential, for example, in the pulling-over step, that the shaping tension applied to the upper be maintained when the shoe is transferred to another station such as one where the forepart is wiped over the last. In the past it was common to pull the upper over a shoe and temporarily tack .the upper on the last. This, of course, would be impractical to perform in an automatic sequence without operator intervention. Other methods and machines included complex clamping means for holding upper tension while shoes were transferred to other operatrons.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a method and machinery for pulling an upper over the forepart of a last, wiping the upper heightwise to impart the shape of the last to the upper at least to the shoe bottom, skiving the upper margin to reduce its thickness and finally wiping the upper margin over and against the shoe bottom. To this end the machine disclosed herein is provided with a head which includes means for supporting the shoe and wipers for lasting the shoe upper over a last and for clamping the upper in position. The head initially is in a pulling location where the upper is tensioned and the wipers shape the upper heightwise over the last and clamp the upper against the bottom edge of the shoe last. The head then is moved to a skiving location with the wipers maintaining the imparted shape of the upper and a skiving tool spreads the upper margin over the wipers to trim off excess thickness. At the skiving location, the wipers additionally wipe the skived upper margin inwardly against the shoe bottom.

According to another feature of the invention the machine is provided with at least two heads each movable in sequence between pulling and skiving locations. The machine is also provided with a pulling unit for tensioningthe upper over the last and with a skiving unit for trimming excess thickness from the tensioned and shaped upper. The pulling unit and the skiving unit are alternately moved between the heads. When one head is in its pulling location the pulling unit is registered I therewith and the upper is tensioned and partially wiped and clamped by the wipers. At the same time the other head is in its skiving location registered with the skiving unit and the upper margin of a previously shaped shoe is skived and the wipers lay the skived upper over the shoe bottom. The heads are moved between locations and the units are moved to and from each head in appropriate sequence so a series of shoes are automatically lasted with no operator intervention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows a diagrammatic representation of the equipment embodying the invention, with wipers and a skiving tool in the form of a steel brush;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the equipment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a wiper of particular shape operating on a shoe pp FIG. 4 shows an alternate wiper of different shape operating on a shoe upper;

FIG. 5 shows a pair of wipers with radial ridges at the toe end;

FIG. 6 is a section taken on line VI-VI of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 shows a diagrammatic representation of an alternate form of the equipment according to the invention, with flat knives for skiving;

FIG. 8 shows a plan view of a more complete assembly of the equipment according to the invention;

FIG. 9 shows a side view of the arrangement according to FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a side view of a combination pulling and lasting machine which functions in accordance with the method of the invention; and

FIG. 11 is a plan view in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 10.

There is shown in FIG. 1, in section, the forepart of a partially lasted shoe comprising an upper l with lining 2 assembled on a last 3 together with an insole 4. The partially lasted shoe as shown rests on a toe support 6. Further shown in FIG. 1 are wipers 7 which, in the course of a lasting operation, are stopped in an intermediate position in which only a small part of the lasting margin 9 of the shoe upper is clamped against the marginal edge 11 of the insole 4. In this intermediate position, the wipers hold the partially lasted upper against movement with respect to the insole.

A rotating wire brush 13 which is used as an abrading wheel rotates in such a direction around a shaft 47 that the lasting margin 9 of the upper is reduced in thickness toward the outside. The lining 2 is also removed so that it remains only around the edge 11 of the insole 4 sufficient for fastening the lining. Thus, the remaining thickness of the lasting margin 9 can be cemented directly on the insole 4 assuring good adhesion. The reduced upper thickness in the area of the toe permits the lasting margin to hug the insole closely, resulting in an especially smooth shoe bottom.

The brush I3 is guided along the lasting margin 9 by means of a template 16 (FIGS. 1, 8 and 9) in such manner that the direction of rotation of the brush is always outward of the shoe. Due to the travel direction of the brush 13, the upper margin 9 is pushed out over and is supported by the wipers in their intermediate position as the upper material is removed by the brush. If it is necessary to give the lasting margin a special shape, this can be brought about by specially profiling the wipers, such as shown in FIGS. 3-6. According to FIG. 3, the wiper 17 has an elevation 18, which extends around the tip of the shoe and causes a tapering of the lasting margin 9 corresponding to the incline leading to the elevation 18. In the design according to FIG. 4, the wiper 19 has a depression 21 before the elevation which causes a particularly sharp tapering of the edge of the lasting margin. Where very pointed shoes are involved it may be necessary to provide notches in the lasting margin which results in a better fold distribution at the tip. Such a notching may be obtained by profiling the wipers as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 with one or more ridges 22 extending radially of the tip of the shoe. The effect of these ridges is that the upper margin is abraded through the thickness of the upper only where supported on the ridges thereby creating radially extending notches in the margins.

The combination of wipers and skiving tool according to the invention also contemplates use of other skiving methods. An example of a different skiving tool is shown in FIG. 7, wherein flat knives 23, guided outwardly over the lasting margin, serve as skiving tools. These flat knives push the margin 9 out over the wipers 7 to skive the lasting margin obliquely due to their orientation to the wipers.

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrates more complete equipment according to the invention. The equipment includes a supporting carriage 25 on which are mounted the elements forming the skiving tool. A shifting plate 28 is mounted on the carriage so as to be longitudinally movable in rails 29 and 30 on the carriage. A reciprocating motion is imparted to the shifting plate 28 by a rod 31, extending from a fluid cylinder 32 secured to the carriage 25 by a bolt 33. In addition to the longitudinal motion caused by the shifting plate 28 a cross motion is also provided by a lever arm 34 pivoted on the shifting plate 28 by a bolt 35. The mobility in two directions generally perpendicular to each other is used to guide the brush 13 along a line which is determined by a template 16.

A shaft having a fork 14 which carries the brush 13 engages the template 16, and by sliding along the template determines the path of movement of the brush 13. The lever arm 34, which carries the shaft 15 together with the brush I3, is urged toward the template by a fluid cylinder 36 having a piston rod 37 linked to the lever arm through a bolt 38. As the cylinder 32 moves the shifting plate 28 back and forth, the lever arm 34, under the influence of the cylinder 36, holds the shaft 15, engaged with the template 16. In this manner, the brush 13 is guided toward the toe end of the shoe along a path controlled by the template following the contour at one side of the last. When the shaft 15 arrives at the toe end of cam 16, the brush 15 is bodily turned about the axis of shaft 15 so the periphery of the brush turns outwardly of the shoe at all times. To this end, the piston rod 42 of a cylinder 41 is connected by a bolt 43 to a plate 44 secured to the upper end of the shaft 15. The plate 44 carries a motor 45 connected by pulleys 48, 49 and a belt 50 to the shaft 47 rotatably supporting the brush 13 in the fork 14. Operation of the cylinder 41 at this time acting through the plate 44 turns the shaft 15 about 90 as it moves around the toe end of template 16. Also at this time, operation of cylinders 32 and 36 are reversed so the shaft slides heelward along the other side of the template and the margin of the upper at the opposite side of the shoe is skived by the brush.

The combination pulling over and lasting machine illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11 includes a housing 53 which contains an actuating device 54 for grippers 55. It is by-means of these grippers that the upper on last 3 is initially pulled before the lasting margin is wiped heightwise and clamped against the edge of the insole by the wipers 8 in their intermediate positions above described. The last 3 with the upper is held by the toe clamp 6 and a heel support 46. The function of the grippers need not be described in detail herein as it is known and does not specifically form a part of the invention.

With the wipers 8 in their intermediate positions, the partially lasted shoe is moved from a lasting position shown on the left of FIG. 10 into a skiving position shown on the right of FIG. 10, in which the skiving operation is carried out in the machine by the mechanism shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. For this purpose, the wipers 8 are supported on a wiper head 56, which is mounted for swinging movement on a horizontal shaft 57. The wiper head 56, including the wipers 8 is swung into the skiving position shown in dotted lines, with reference to FIG. 10, from left to right. In the lasting position as well as in the skiving position, the wiper head 56 is located by any desired arrangement not shown. The skiving operation is then performed in the skiving position as has described in connection with FIGS. 8 and 9.

To perform the swinging motion of the head 56 with the upper on the last held by the wipers, the grippers 55 and the associated activating device 54 must first be moved out of interfering relation. To this end, the grippers 55 and operating unit 54 are mounted on a carriage 60 mounted for movement across the machine on guides 58 and 59. The machine shown is so designed that it permits double utilization of the grippers. For this reason the machine is equipped with two sets of wiper heads 56, 56 best seen in FIG. 11, both heads being pivoted on the shaft 57 into both the lasting and the skiving positions. The machine also utilizes doubly the skiving tool whose supporting carriage 25 rests on two rails 26 and 27 on which it can be moved into the range of either wiper head 56 or 56 when pivoted into the skiving position.

With the two wiper heads 56 and 56', the manufacturing process proceeds as follows: First, an upper placed on a last 3 is pulled over in the lasting position by means of the grippers 55, and the lasting operation up to the intermediate position is carried out by the wipers of the wiper head 56. The gripper actuating device 54 with the grippers 55 dropped is then moved to the left (FIG. 11() into the range of wiper head 56 so that, in this position, another pulling over operation as well as a lasting operation up to the intermediate position can be carried out on another shoe. After this shifting motion of the device 54, the wiper head 56' pivoted into the skiving position which corresponds to that of the dotted position of head 56in FIG. 10. The skiving operation then takes place in the manner described above. For this purpose, the common skiving tool with the supporting carriage 25 must be moved to the right as seen in FIG. 11 into the respective skiving position. When the wipers 8 have arrived in the intermediate position clamping the pulled and shaped upper, the head 56 can be pivoted into its skiving position. The skiving tool with the supporting carriage 25, which earlier had carried out the skiving of the upper on last 3, is moved to the left as seen in FIG. 11 into the skiving position appropriate for the wiper head 56 to skive the lasting margin of the upper on the last 61. In this manner it is possible with this combination machine to operate automatically on a series of shoes with the constant double utilization of both the pulling over grippers and the skiving tool permitting great efficiency. As already described above, the completion of the lasting process in the machine is carried out in the skiving position. After the skiving and prior to the completion of the lasting operation, an adhesive is applied in known manner to the margin of the insole, establishing a bond between the upper lasting margin and the insole completing the lasting operation, The wiper head then is swung out of the skiving position and into the pulling position. The relatively short time required is sufficient to allow the adhesive to set and the completed shoe may be removed and replaced with one to be operated upon.

It should be apparent from the foregoing that a variety of skiving means as well as other lasting means could be substituted for those described without departing from the scope of the invention.

Having thus described out invention, what we claim as novel and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A method of lasting shoes which includes the steps of providing at least two heads each including wipers and means for supporting a shoe comprising an upper and an insole assembled on a last, moving the heads alternately between lasting and skiving locations, providing the upper pulling unit adapted to pull an upper about the forepart of the last, providing a skiving tool adapted to skive the upper margin, positioning one head in its lasting location registered with the pulling unit while the other head is positioned in its skiving location registered with the skiving unit, causing the pulling unit to pull an upper over the forepart of the last in the one head, causing the wipers in the one head to wipe the pulled upper heightwise of the last forepart and inwardly slightly over the insole edge sufficient to clamp the upper in wiped condition, moving the one head to its skiving location, causing the skiving tool to skive the margin of the upper of the shoe in the one head with the wipers supporting the upper against the action of the skiv ing tool, causing the wipers on the one head to move the wipers inwardly from clamping position to wipe the skived upper fully over the insole bottom, causing the pulling unit to pull an upper over the forepart of a last in the other head while the skiving tool is skiving the margin of the upper in the one head, and synchronizing the operation of the heads and the pulling and skiving units for operating on successive shoes.

2. A method according to claim 1 including the steps of moving the pulling unit and the skiving tool alternately between the heads and in synchronism with themovement of the heads between their lasting locations and skiving locatrons.

3. In a machine for lasting shoes comprising an upper and an insole assembled on a last including a head, means on the head for supporting the shoe, wipers on the head for wiping the upper heightwise about the forepart of the last and inwardly over the insole bottom, said wipers being operable initially to wipe the upper heightwise about the forepart of the last and inwardly to an intermediate position slightly over the insole edge sufficient only to clamp the upper in wiped condition, and skiving means including a rotating brush and means for guiding the brush around the forepart of the shoe with the periphery of the brush engaging the margin of the upper so as to spread the upper over the wipers in intermediate position with the wipers supporting the margin of the upper against the skiving action of the brush, said wipers being operable after the operation of the skiving means to wipe the skived upper inwardly from intermediate position fully over the insole bottom.

4. A machine according to claim 3 in which the rotating brush is swung about an axis extending heightwise of the shoe bottom as it is guided around the toe end of the shoe so that the periphery of the brush engaging the upper margin continues to spread the upper outwardly as the brush is guided along one side of the shoe, around the toe end of the shoe and along the opposite side of the shoe.

5. A machine according to claim 3 in which the guiding means includes a template generally corresponding to the shape of the forepart of the shoe and means are provided for causing the skiving means to follow the contourof the template.

6. A machine according to claim 5 in which the skiving tool is mounted on a slide and means are provided for holding the slide in engagement with the template.

7. A machine according to claim 3 in which the pulling unit and the skiving unit are alternately movable between the heads.

8. In a machine for lasting shoes comprising an upper and an insole assembled on a last including a head, means on the head for supporting the shoe, wipers on the head for wiping the upper heightwise about the forepart of the last and inwardly over the insole bottom, said wipers being operable initially to wipe the upper heightwise about the forepart of the last and inwardly to an intermediate position slightly over the insole edge sufticient only to clamp the upper in wiped condition, and skiving means movable outwardly of the shoe bottom to skive the margin of the forepart of the upper outspread over and supported by the wipers in intermediate position, the surface of the wipers supporting the outspread upper about the toe end of the shoe being provided with radially extending ridges which cause the skiving means to reduce the thickness of the upper margin to a greater extent in the area of the ridges, said wipers being operable after the operation of the skiving means to wipe the skived upper inwardly from intermediate position fully over the insole bottom.

9. In a machine for lasting shoes comprising an upper and an insole assembled on a last, at least two heads each movable between a lasting location and a skiving location, each head having means for supporting a shoe and wipers for wiping an upper heightwise of the forepart of a last and inwardly over the insole on the bottom of the last, a unit for pulling an upper over the forepart of the last of a shoe in one head in its lasting location, sad wipers being operable while the one head is In its lasting location to wipe the upper heightwise and inwardly to an intermediate position slightly over the insole edge sufficient only to clamp the upper in wiped condition, and skiving means movable outwardly of the bottom of a shoe to skive the margin of the upper outspread over and supported by wipers in intermediate position while the associated head is in its skiving location, said wipers being operable while the associated head is in its skiving location to wipe the skived upper inwardly from intermediate position fully over the insole. 

1. A method of lasting shoes which includes the steps of providing at least two heads each including wipers and means for supporting a shoe comprising an upper and an insole assembled on a last, moving the heads alternately between lasting and skiving locations, providing the upper pulling unit adapted to pull an upper about the forepart of the last, providing a skiving tool adapted to skive the upper margin, positioning one head in its lasting location registered with the pulling unit while the other head is positioned in its skiving location registered with the skiving unit, causing the pulling unit to pull an upper over the forepart of the last in the one head, causing the wipers in the one head to wipe the pulled upper heightwise of the last forepart and inwardly slightly over the insole edge sufficient to clamp the upper in wiped condition, moving the one head to its skiving location, causing the skiving tool to skive the margin of the upper of the shoe in the one head with the wipers supporting the upper against the action of the skiving tool, causing the wipers on the one head to move the wipers inwardly from clamping position to wipe the skived upper fully over the insole bottom, causing the pulling unit to pull an upper over the forepart of a last in the other head while the skiving tool is skiving the margin of the upper in the one head, and synchronizing the operation of the heads and the pulling and skiving units for operating on successive shoes.
 2. A method according to claim 1 including the steps of moving the pulling unit and the skiving tool alternately between the heads and in synchronism with the movement of the heads between their lasting locations and skiving locations.
 3. In a machine for lasting shoes comprising an upper and an insole assembled on a last including a head, means on the head for supporting the shoe, wipers on the head for wiping the upper heightwise about the forepart of the last and inwardly over the insole bottom, said wipers being operable initially to wipe the upper heightwise about the forepart of the last and inwardly to an intermediate position slightly over the insole edge sufficient only to clamp the upper in wiped condition, and skiving means including a rotating brush and means for guiding the brush around the forepart of the shoe with the periphery of the brush engaging the margin of the upper so as to spread the upper over the wipers in intermediate position with the wipers supporting the margin of the upper against the skiving action of the brush, said wipers being operable after the operation of the skiving means to wipe the skived upper inwardly from intermediate position fully over the insole bottom.
 4. A machine according to claim 3 in which the rotating brush is swung about an axis extending heightwise of the shoe bottom as it is guided around the toe end of the shoe so that the periphery of the brush engaging the upper margin continues to spread the upper outwardly as the brush is guided along one side of the shoe, around the toe end of the shoe and along the opposite side of the shoe.
 5. A machine according to claim 3 in which the guiding means includes a template generally corresponding to the shape of the forepart of the shoe and means are provided for causing the skiving means to follow the contour of the template.
 6. A machine according to claim 5 in which the skiving tool is mounted on a slide and means are provided for holding the slide in engagement with the template.
 7. A machine according to claim 3 in which the pulling unit and the skiving unit are alternately movable between the heads.
 8. In a machine for lasting shoes comprising an upper and an insole assembled on a last including a head, means on the head for supporting the shoe, wipers on the head for wiping the upper heightwise about the forepart of the last and inwardly over the insole bottom, said wipers being operable initially to wipe the upper heightwise about the forepart of the last and inwardly to an intermediate position slightly over the insole edge sufficient only to clamp the upper in wiped condition, and skiving means movable outwardly of the shoe bottom to skive the margin of the forepart of the upper outspread over and supported by the wipers in intermediate position, the surface of the wipers supporting the outspread upper about the toe end of the shoe being provided with radially extending ridges which cause the skiving means to reduce the thickness of the upper margin to a greater extent in the area of the ridges, said wipers being operable after the operation of the skiving means to wipe the skived upper inwardly from intermediate position fully over the insole bottom.
 9. In a machine for lasting shoes comprising an upper and an insole assembled on a last, at least two heads each movable between a lasting location and a skiving location, each head having means for supporting a shoe and wipers for wiping an upper heightwise of the forepart of a last and inwardly over the insole on the bottom of the last, a unit for pulling an upper over the forepart of the last of a shoe in one head in its lasting location, sad wipers being operable while the one head is in its lasting location to wipe the upper heightwise and inwardly to an intermediate position slightly over the insole edge sufficient only to clamp the upper in wiped condition, and skiving means movable outwardly of the bottom of a shoe to skive the margin of the upper outspread over and supported by wipers in intermediate position while the associated head is in its skiving location, said wipers being operable while the associated head is in its skiving location to wipe the skived upper inwardly from intermediate position fully over the insole. 